


The Bird and The Blade

by EnchantedCat



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2020-07-08 23:43:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19878046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnchantedCat/pseuds/EnchantedCat
Summary: Quinn is a young woman doing her job as a Demacian by standing by her region at all costs. Nothing would make her disobey the rules, that is until she meets the wanted blades man Talon on a mission for her Prince. Will she finally get to capture this man, in a good or bad way?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! uwu  
> So I am pretty god awful at writing fics like these, but I wanted to try. I love the Quinn x Talon ship and I feel like it's so underrated (though it isn't related to lore, so that's possibly why). However, I hope you enjoy, and I will try to update as much as possible.

She was laughing. She never laughed, not for a long time that was. After her brother, Caleb, had passed away, all of Quinn had shattered into tiny pieces, standing by her country, Demacia, as a distraction from her grief. It had helped, fighting crime that came to harm others, and she would continue to fight for the citizens of her region. Even after many, many years, and Quinn was now 18, finally turning into a young, mature woman, she so desperately wanted to forget the trauma of his death, the sight of his unconscious body always haunting her mind at the most important times, and just move on with her life. Progress was being made, but it was all till now where she would no longer be as alone as she felt without a human presence.  
"Why are you laughing?" Jarvan frowned at her, unimpressed by her sudden outburst of amusement. He didn't recall saying something funny.  
"I am sorry Prince Jarvan," she suddenly stopped laughing and was annoyed with herself for making such an outburst. "But don't you feel like there are better protectors for the job? I mean, nobody knows who The Blade's Shadow is. Nobody's ever seen his face before, where would I start looking? More importantly, where would my body be buried in the split seconds that he slits my throat?" Quinn was now tugging at her armor around her waist and was adjusting it whilst waiting for her prince to respond.  
"That's where you come in," he said. "You're right, we don't know who he is, or what he looks like, but we can change that with you and Valor. I've seen you and Valor in action, Quinn, and I know what you're capable of. I wouldn't send one of my most precious soldiers out if I didn't think for a second you couldn't do the job," Jarvan explained. Quinn looked at the cyan painted walls beside her and sighed. As much as she would want to decline this assignment of Jarvan's, she knew that not only would he be disappointed in her, but so would the rest of Demacia. She didn't want herself to be pictured as a coward, she wanted to be the protector she vowed to be, so she settled the battle inside her head down.  
"I highly accept, your highness. I am honored that you would choose me and think me worthy, I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Quinn bowed, lifting her head back up to look at Jarvan's smile to her before she exited the throne room and into the various halls of Demacia's castle. Unfortunately, she didn't have the privilege of living in such quality, unlike the many other soldiers of Demacia. She only really knew of the Crownguards living here, and rarely spoke to any of the others. 

As Quinn walked outside of the humongous building, she cooed to Valor, who was patiently waiting for her whilst hovering in the sky above the many tree's surrounding the castle. Quinn immediately smirked at her eagle companion. Valor squawked at her in delight and then squawked again to ask her how her time had been with Jarvan.  
"Well, Valor," she continued to walk, with the eagle on her shoulder, back through the forest towards her own home, "we have some business to attend to sooner or later. I don't know if I've spoken to you about 'The Blade's Shadow?" she inquired to the eagle. The eagle hissed, almost, which she took as a yes, he had heard of him. This would be easier to talk it through with him. "So Jarvan being Jarvan thinks that you and I will be able to take down this assassin once and for all and have him arrested at the arms of Demacia. I argued with him about it, but he was convinced that we were the perfect duo for the job, what do you think Valor?" she asked. Valor paused for a moment, and let out a squawk that sounded unsure, and then another squawk to say that if she was going, he was too. Quinn beamed at him, giving her feathered friend a hug, then thanking him for always being with her. "I'll give you some treats later, don't you worry," she grinned. Valor squawked happily.  
Walking through the forest was such an unfun experience. All the fallen trees, the soggy leaves that had fallen on the floor when it had rained, and most importantly, the dark, gloomy atmosphere it gave off. The place Caleb had passed away. Quinn always shuddered when walking into the depths of these forests, knowing that death's door could always be around the corner. However, she just kept walking, and walking, and walking. Quinn looked to Valor, who was perched on her shoulder, his head lying on her own.  
"Valor," she said. Valor looked up at her, giving her his attention. "Would you mind scouting up ahead to see how far our destination is?" she queried. Valor squawked in agreement, releasing himself from her shoulder and up above the tall, birch tree's that had grown too much for their own good. Quinn walked on ahead, waiting for her duo partner to return, where she had bumped into something. Anxious to look down at her feet, she did what her instinct told her too, and then, wanting to scream, held her mouth shut. She exhaled slightly, staring at the two dead bodies that were landed in front of her feet. There were a man and a woman that you could tell from their hair, who's relation to each other didn't seem to be genetically related, but perhaps they could've been lovers. Quinn didn't recognize either of them, which possibly meant that they weren't from Demacia, as they had no sign of clothing or colours that could represent the region. She hated to do this, but she had to see how they had died, which meant inspecting the body. Quinn flipped the man over on his front to see a slit throat and did the same with the woman, who also had a slit throat. There weren't any weapons in sight, which meant that these were definitely murders and not suicide attempts. They also seemed quite recent deaths, too, as the blood was still spilling a little. Quinn gritted her teeth, wondering to who could do such a thing...  
The Blade's Shadow.  
"Valor!" she yelled up into the sky, worried since he was taking a long time, and the killer could be around. Quinn felt herself shivering slightly, as she trudged forward through the odd soggy leaves she would step in, holding to herself. Valor had given her no response, which made her shiver even more. Quinn had wanted to go back to the castle, call for help, maybe even get those bodies buried so they could be at rest, but then she'd just have to walk through the horrific forest again, which doing every other day was exhausting enough. Fortunately, Quinn heard a squawk from up above, which made her exhale in relief, knowing Valor was okay. She awaited his return until she felt her mouth covered by a hand, a male hand, and both her arms were gripped by his other hand. Quinn gave out muffled screams in an attempt to break free from this man until she felt herself falling down unconsciously until she could see the gloomy forest no more.


	2. Chapter 2

Valor. That was the first thing that came to Quinn's mind. Was he alright? Where was he? All she could remember was hearing his squawks, and then... oh yes. A hand had covered her mouth and gripped her so she couldn't fight back. So where was she now? Quinn couldn't see anything, unfortunately. That was to be expected, so Quinn tried to use her other senses to compensate. She smelt a strong smell of alcohol in the air with a mix of a burning smell and heard nothing else but footsteps.  
"Is this what you do with all your victims?" she asked, thinking back to the two dead bodies in the forest. He could've just easily killed her on the spot, why the effort to bring her with him unconsciously just to die anyway? Surely there was a motive.  
"Only the little Demacian puppets," she heard the assassin say in a deep, unfriendly tone. Demacian puppet? Was that really how she was portrayed? Quinn scoffed at his comment.  
"Something amusing you, puppet?" she felt a cool object against her cheek.  
"Probably, if I could see the joke in front of me. Unfortunately, I can't see," she mused, wondering what this assassin looked like. Would he look as scary as he sounded? She knew her comment would piss him off, and it did. She felt the cool object scrape her cheek, feeling the blood drip down slowly. Quinn thought now that she probably shouldn't have pissed him off, but if she was going to die anyway, might as well.  
"A puppet with a big mouth, I see," he pondered at his work against her cheek. He scraped his finger over her blood and smirked. The sight of pain.  
"If you're going to kill me, just do it," Quinn uttered, annoyed. She didn't really want to die, but what could she possibly do in this situation? This man obviously had a problem. Wanting to kill innocent people for his pleasure. It was almost sickening to think about, how she was trying to protect her region from people like him, and yet, here she had failed to keep her own guard up to allow herself in this mess. She would die a disappointment.  
"Just killing a Demacian puppet like yourself immediately wouldn't be entertaining in the slightest," he smirked.  
"So you want to torture me, I see," she sighed. "Can't you just put me out of my misery, assassin? Just like you did to all those other folk, since they deserved it so much?" The assassin stared down at his victim. This girl here was Demacian, supposed to be bright, happy, carefree, the place where you wouldn't be judged. And yet here she was, not squirming at the slow torture he wanted to provide her with. Let alone not squirming, she didn't even care about her own life. She could at least fight for it, but no.  
"Are you happy?" he asked her. Under her blindfold, Quinn was frowning. Did he just seriously ask if she was happy?  
"Happy? Do I look happy? You have me tied up in a blindfold and rope and you're asking me if I'm happy?" she spat. He laughed, amused.  
"I didn't ask you if you were happy right now, puppet. I asked you if you were happy generally. Now answer me seriously," he spat back. Quinn paused. She didn't have to respond to this assassin, but, his question did make her think. Happiness had never really sprung to her mind before, it was all about Demacia, doing everything in her power to protect her region and fight for it. There never was any time for herself, or her feelings, or for anybody else except Valor. Her happiness... didn't matter.  
"My happiness doesn't matter as long as my people are happy," Quinn solemnly spoke. She heard a roar of laughter come from the assassin, which she didn't appreciate.  
"As if those people give a shit what happens to you." He was starting to piss her off now, harder than his presence already had. Yet, why was she pissed if she could confirm it was true? She couldn't. She was pissed off because he was right.  
"Look, assassin, whatever your name is, what I choose to do in my life shouldn't concern you. Mocking me for being a good person doesn't make me feel worse about myself. I mean, really, what can be worse than sitting here having to listen to you in a blindfold and rope?"  
"Do you do it for the attention?" he asked. Quinn was beginning to get annoyed by this so called assassin. Why was he asking her so many questions? Why did he even care for that matter?  
"You think I serve my region for the attention?" Quinn laughed to herself. If only he knew.  
"Why else would you want to serve such a shithole?" he mused. "There isn't a single good thing about Demacia. Nothing." Quinn fell silent. She was infuriated deep down, because everything he was saying was true. But he wanted her to be angry. He wanted her to agree with him because he had a motive, whatever that motive was. Perhaps to share insight on what Jarvan assigned her; or locations of special equipment located around the castle. Who knew what this assassin wanted?  
"Just tell me what you want," Quinn sighed in defeat. This wasn't ever going to work out in her favour, why bother to fight back?  
"There's a lot of things I want," he grabbed a cup from one of the cupboards on the wall, pouring himself a glass of alcohol. "But there's also a lot of things I can't have. So if I can't have what I want; why should anybody else be able too?" he took a sip from his drink, swallowing it in one go. Quinn rolled her eyes behind the blindfold. Was this guy serious? What a stupid mentality to have, and a stupid response to say the least. He had to be joking.  
"Okay, smart guy, what do you want with ME then?" she groaned. The assassin just laughed at her response.  
"You'll find out soon enough. For now, puppet, I'm leaving you right here. I'll be back soon, all this nonsensical talking is making me quite exhausted, and I've had a long day," the assassin put his glass away and began collecting his belongings.  
"Wait-" Quinn said, but the assassin had gone and left her alone. Just lovely.

During the time the assassin had gone, Quinn had tried to escape. To no luck, it appeared that this guy definitely knew what he was doing. The knots were like no other; it would be impossible to break out without somebody else untying them. She was trapped at his command. She hoped that maybe someone from Demacia, even Jarvan, would notice she'd be gone for a while. Would they even waste resources to search for her though? This assassin had clouded her mind with doubts about her region and her own vow to it. If Caleb hadn't passed away, maybe she wouldn't be as devoted as she was to Demacia. Perhaps she would've just left entirely. She was alone anyway, no family, friends, human contact. Only Valor. This assassin had just showed it to her straight, and who would've thought it'd only take a blindfold and some ropes. Quinn sighed to herself, accepting her defeated attempt at trying to break free, and decided to sleep to pass time until the assassin came back to finish with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up," Quinn felt a tug on her arm and widened her eyes to see that the blindfold had been removed. It took her by surprise.  
"Where's my blindfold?" she asked, confused.  
"Would you rather me put it back on for you?" he asked. Quinn shook her head and went back to being quiet. She took the moment to look at the assassin more clearly. His face was barely visible under his blue cloak which she noticed was covered in blades. She smirked to herself. This guy really had an ego on him to be walking around in a cloak of blades, and she thought her life was sad.  
"What are you smirking at?" he scowled. He walked closer to her, kneeling right in front of her face. She could clearly see his eyes, they were golden. Fierce. In all honesty, his face had the shape of a bicycle seat, she thought. She smirked again, with the assassin getting annoyed with her smirks, curious as to why she was in the first place.  
"I asked you a question." He looked pissed. Quinn sighed.  
"I was smirking at the fact you have a cloak made with blades," she admitted.  
"Like it?"  
"I can't say I like it since you're the first I've seen to own one. It's very strange, that's for sure."  
"It comes in handy, you know. But I don't think a puppet like yourself would understand that very well," he said, standing back up. He picked up his glass from last night and started pouring more alcohol again. Quinn watched him as he downed a few, keeping silent the entire time. She was bored; why was she still alive? Did he just want her to create small talk in his boring life that he appeared to have considering he had her locked down... wherever she was?  
"What is your name, Puppet?" he turned to her while she was in thought.  
"Quinn," she mumbled.  
"And do you know my name?" he asked her. She shook her head in response. She kind of already knew he was The Blade's Shadow, but if she acted dumb about his identity, maybe she could discover some information about him.  
"That's disappointing, I would've been sure a Demacian puppet such as yourself would've heard my name by now," he smirked. "I'm known as The Blade's Shadow, but since you're not leaving this place, you may as well know me as Talon."  
Talon. Had she ever heard this name before? He definitely wasn't a Demacian. He looked way too scruffy to be one. Demacia had few enemies, he could just be another enemy to the crown wanting revenge on the region for all she knew. He could be anyone.  
"Can you stop calling me a Demacian puppet? I'm a puppet to nobody," she snapped. She didn't mean to snap, but she was tired from her trail of thoughts. Tired of bottling it all up. Questioning everything in existence in her life tired her. Why couldn't she just be like per say Lux? She seemed care free. Nothing to worry about. Or just a normal girl living away from the crown.  
"Tell me why I should," Talon frowned at her. "I have plenty of time to listen." Quinn bit her lip. At least he didn't react badly to her snapping at him.. she kind of didn't want another cut on her cheek.  
"I..." she trailed off. Where would she begin? She wanted to unbottle her feelings. She needed too.  
"I'm listening," he sat down on the chair besides the table.  
"My brother. Caleb. He was 12 years old when he died," she mumbled. "His death... traumatised me. Seeing his unconscious body in such a state made me sick to my stomach. I still don't know the entire story of what happened to him, because there were no witnesses. Just his bloody body on the floor..." she whispered. Talon was just sitting there, listening to her every word.  
"...I had nobody left. My Mom had left me alone with him because she couldn't cope anymore. I failed as a guardian to keep him safe, and I kind of blamed myself for his death. I was alone and I deserved to be. I joined the Demacian forces as an escape from my own mind. It kept me busy so I didn't have to think about him or anything else that had happened in my life." Quinn's lip quivered a little. There was only so much she could act on, this strong persona she portrayed herself to have, there was only so much she could take. Talon stared at her, his expression unreadable. He was waiting for her to finish her story.  
"I try to protect the citizens of Demacia so they don't have to endure the same fate as my brother had too. I thought it would help me stray away from reliving that moment in my mind like a record on repeat, but I guess it didn't work as well as I thought it would," she let out a small smile, laughing at her own stupidity. "So I guess before you say I'm a puppet again... I only listen to what I thought would be right to protect the citizens. I wouldn't allow myself to be ordered to something I didn't think was right." Talon didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up, put his glass away, and walked towards the door and closed it behind him, leaving Quinn alone, dumbfounded, wondering what had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I finally made Chapter 2. I finished my first set of exams now so I can actually start writing again. Thank you and I hope you like it <3


	3. Chapter 3

Nothing could feel any worse than how Quinn felt in this moment. She'd poured her heart out to some scummy assassin just for him to leave her like that? He didn't have to listen to her, and she did choose to tell him, but damn, it really hurt. Quinn wanted to look at herself right now, to see her beet red eyes and the dried up tears on her cheek that had been there for so long she couldn't even count. Time felt so slow. She was dying of thirst and hunger; the assassin hadn't been there to feed her, maybe this is how he wants her to die, of starvation? Words couldn't explain how bored she was. The last thing she wanted was her mind clouded with thoughts of judgement about herself, she'd had enough of disappointing everyone around her for one day, or however long it had been.

"Please don't leave me like this," she whispered, sobbing to herself. "You've already made me feel this pathetic... it can't get worse than this..." now this was the slow torture he knew she couldn't endure. Leaving her all alone to starve and sit in her own tears. "Please..." she sobbed more, just enough to get herself to fall asleep.

Quinn didn't know how long she'd been asleep for, but she'd noticed that some of Talon's belongings had been thrown on the table. He must've came while she was asleep. Out of all the time he could've come back, it just had to be when she was asleep. She wanted to know why he had left so abruptly, of course he didn't have to stay and listen to her, he was a cold-hearted assassin after all, but that didn't stop her from wondering why. She wanted to know more about him; he intrigued her, even if he was keeping her hostage.   
"You're awake," he said in a dry voice. Quinn turned her head to see the man standing besides the door, closing it as he entered the small room. She had noticed stairs from behind the door as he shut it; it appeared she was in a basement of some sort.

"I don't understand," she whispered. "Why?" she stared at him, her eyes tearing up. Talon looked at her as he sat on his chair next to the table. "Why are you such a piece of shit?"

"Puppet," he simply said. Quinn felt her rage boiling up inside her when he called her that. He hadn't listened to a word she had said the last time they had spoke, of course he hadn't. Why was she even slightly surprised? Tears fell down her cheeks as she sobbed to herself.

"Fuck you," she spat. "I'm done. Starve me, kill me, I don't care. Anything to just never see the lights of you again. Put the blindfold back on as well so I don't have to look at your disgusting face." She wouldn't respond to him again, she said to herself. If she didn't speak, he'd get bored of her and just end her quickly. Talon sighed, walking to the cupboard and opening it to reveal some food. He picked it up and held out his hand to her mouth for her to take a bite. Quinn stared at the food, then at him with a perplexed look on her face. 

"Are you going to eat it or not?" he frowned. Quinn just sat there, confused. Well, if it was poisoned, who cares at this point? She took a bite and chewed slowly, unsure whether he would give her anymore. His hand remained in the same position as she took several more bites out of the food, until there was nothing left. Talon then sat down again on his chair, poured himself a glass of alcohol and drank, all while staring at her. 

"So, are you done feeling sorry for yourself?" he asked in an annoyed tone. Quinn pouted. "Great. I left because I went to get food. I was gone for longer because one of the idiots decided to chase after me, so I had to dump a body or two. Any other questions?" Quinn sighed. 

"I thought you'd..."

"You thought I'd left you because I didn't care about what you had to say? So I'd let you starve and die?" Quinn nodded reluctantly. 

"Why call me puppet again?" she murmured. "I poured my heart out just for you to insult me like that again? I get it, I'm your hostage, you can do what you want with me, but that... that's just infuriating..."

"That was shitty of me. I apologise," he said. "I can see you've had it rough, just like many others, only you don't like to show it." Did he just apologise to her? What happened to this asshole from a while ago?

"Are you... okay?" she asked, confused. Talon sighed in response. 

"Am I not allowed to apologise to where I went wrong?"

"No, it's just, you kind of have me held hostage. Apologising just sounds... funny, coming from you," she chucked a little. Talon sighed.

"Your story," he took another sip of his drink before continuing. "I'm sorry for mocking you. It's just a shame such a person as yourself is devoted to such a shithole. Unfortunate as it is, there isn't any other places worthy of devoting yourself too, either," Quinn pursed her lips at his comment, wondering whether to trust if he was being genuinely nice or purposely nice for something she didn't know about. As much as she didn't have a choice in her current situation and as much as he made her feel worse about her vow to Demacia, she couldn't trust a man who still had her tied up. 

"Talon?" she asked. He looked down at her, still hiding behind his blue cloak, indicating her to continue her question. She wanted to ask a question, but which one? There were so many questions to be asked, so many answers to be given, and yet she didn't know where to start. As sad as it sounds in her mind, Talon was her only human company she'd had in a long time, the only person who even if he was using her, had spoken to her out of some form of interest and not of duty. It intrigued her at what a strange person he was; she didn't even see him as an assassin right now. She wanted to learn more about him, even if she didn't trust him.

'Why do you specifically target Demacia over any other region? What did they do to make you hate them so much?" she inquired for her first question, trying not to seem suspicious of actually wanting to know more about him.

"A place full of hypocrites and murderers, and a hierarchy that encourages it. Perhaps your not so close to the crown enough to see what they do to people capable of things they cannot control,' he spoke bitterly. Quinn looked confused; he could mean several things by that, many people were locked up daily and others were sometimes executed for their crimes given the severity, but all of it seemed fair. If you didn't follow the law, you'd be punished, that's how it goes.

"Context? That could mean several things... and if what you say is true, then I'd like to see for myself," she spoke passively, trying to understand his reasoning. Talon stood up and bent down to face her. He pulled down his blue cloak, uncovering his face, and pointed at several scars around his chest.

"These," he said "are from the Prince himself, 7 years ago. I was 16, and they tortured me until I gave up information about someone that I had been close too. I've been looking for her for 7 years, but I don't know if she's alive. All I know is that she is somewhere in Demacia, but not somewhere you can enter or visit, and I suspect it's a place that's being hidden from any form of public knowledge..." Quinn breathed in.   
Ah. This made sense. Much more sense, actually. Jarvan used to capture Noxian's specifically a long time ago, he wanted to purge most of the younger race of children and teenagers of their will to return back to Noxus, to leave the region altogether. She didn't realise that people were still possibly locked away somewhere still, as much as Noxian's were disgusting people, nobody deserved to be locked away for years of their life, especially not young children and teenagers. Much less, she didn't even know they had been tortured; how many people had known and why was this not made attention of sooner?

"I'm guessing you told nobody as there was no evidence to back your claims?" she murmured. 

"Correct," he gave a slight nod. "However, I do know that there is a possibility they are still alive, but I can't find out for myself. You, on the other hand..." Quinn exhaled slowly, a lot of her questions being answered through just one. 

"I get it. There's someone special to you that they might be holding captive in some mysterious hidden place, and you want me to find out if it exists and if she's still alive." Quinn was slowly taking this all in, realising the cause she had been supporting all along. The prince himself, torturing what is now known as The Blade's Shadow, possibly what he became because of all of this. She didn't want to believe this assassin, she didn't want to believe that the region she devoted her life to had been torturing children and teenagers at such a young age and locking them up behind everyone's backs to what they had known was different to how it was portrayed at the time. All she knew was that this wasn't going to end pleasantly.

"I'm glad we're on the same page, Puppet. And I'm sure you know what'll happen to you and your bird if I don't get the information needed, good or bad. Eitherway, it ends up with the same results: the hierachy dies."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm so bad at updating, I'm so sorry for such a short update after such a long wait, I don't want to make any false promises of updating which sucks because I don't know what's going to be happening with my exams at the moment, most of them have been delayed so I'm having to spend the next concurrent months studying for them again when I had hoped them to finish in May. However my motivation for writing came through so I'm going to try and spare some time for this, thank you for your patience, I am excited to do something with this story line so unfortunately the chapters may be shorter but there may be more of them. I appreciate everyone who's reading so far and thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> (Hi guys, little update; so uh school started. I completely forgot about this work and now I kind of don't have much time since I have so many exams to study for! >.< I thank you all for reading so far, and I will try my best to make time to update soon. ^^)


End file.
